LFS claimed wild caught fishes are better

[Reef_Geek]

I think Gold's meant well in their opinion, but may have been narrow in perspective.

Keep in mind, by the time that a wild caught fish has reached the store, the greater proportion of fish that died along the way are not offered for sale. Numerous were caught and held prior to consolidating to a local exporting shipper, then numerous die in that transit, then some die post arrival to a wholesaler in Canada or US, then some make it to our LFS. In contrast, captive bred have higher survival rates come straight from the farm to the north american wholesaler/LFS. By the time a wild caught is offered side by side with a captive bred, you're looking at one heck of a fighter in the wild fish. Physiologically they are comparable but costs of an aquaculture operation is going to require higher prices.

The questions is not whether you want captive bred for hardiness... the difference is likely not statistically significant if you ran 100 trials against common aquarium diseases. The question will be simply your choice. It's a purchase preference in ethics, not in utility. No right or wrong either way, fisheries exist to provide for society, we're just not eating these fish. They're not on the endangered list.